Thousands gathered in central London to show their opposition to a third Heathrow runway.

Top politicians, mayoral candidates from major political parties and people who will be affected by the proposals attended the rally, in Parliament Square, in Westminster on Saturday (October 10).

John Stewart, chair of HACAN, the campaign group opposing the third runway and one of the main organisers of the rally, spoke to Getwestlondon from the rally. He said: “We felt it was very successful. I think there were between 3,000 and 4,000 here.

“It sent a very strong message to David Cameron that there remains a lot of opposition to a third runway at Heathrow.”

Neil Keveren lives in Harmondsworth and could lose his home if a third runway is built. He said: “It was a good rally with some wonderful speakers. People here are very positive. They are adamant it won’t go ahead.”

And speaking before the event , Bryan Tomlinson, of Stop Heathrow Expansion, urged those against the runway to attend. He said: “The Government may ignore public opinion and try to force Heathrow expansion on the people of London and the South East. We all need to remind Parliament that they for us and not tax avoiding offshore investors.

“We already suffer illegal levels of air pollution and more people are affected by excessive Heathrow noise than all comparable airports in Europe put together.

“We have to leave a planet fit for our children and future generations to live free from deadly air pollution and overflown by 260,000 extra flights which is a disaster waiting to happen.”

Also addressing the crowd was John Sauven, chief executive of Greenpeace, Gina Parihar and head of legal at Friends of the Earth.

The rally, which organisers believe was the “biggest ever” against Heathrow expansion, took place just weeks before David Cameron is expected to make an announcement on a new runway for London and the South East.

At present, the Cabinet is looking at the recommendation of the Airports Commission that the runway should be built at Heathrow.

However, over recent months, the owners of Gatwick have continued to make the case for a second runway at their airport.